Posted by Alz on 11/17/10 10:15am
Msg #361674

Need GPS Recommendations - TomTom, Garmin, Magellen, etc.

My TomTom is 3 or more years old and appears to be going on the blink.

Reply by James Dawson on 11/17/10 10:27am
Msg #361675

I have Tom Tom and Garmin.....tough choice because I believe it's more or less about the model number. The Garmin appeared easier to operate but you got to fumble with the "fastest route vs best route". I don't care for the screen display on the Tom Tom as much as the Garmin. Finding UPS Stores and FedEx/kinko locations, gas stations, etc about the same. Hope this helps.

Reply by Ilene C. Seidel on 11/17/10 10:42am
Msg #361677

I currently have a Garman Nuvi and had a Magellan previously. The Garman is more accurate.

Reply by HisHughness on 11/17/10 10:44am
Msg #361679

Don't know about the others, but updates for the Magellen cost as much or more than the unit. Bummer.

Reply by Ilene C. Seidel on 11/17/10 11:37am
Msg #361685

You can buy lifetime updates for Garmin for one fee for the life of the unit

Reply by Kay/IL on 11/17/10 10:58am
Msg #361681

Garmin baby! The screen on the Tom Tom is too small for my purposes. Never tried Magellen since I like my Garmin.

One tip about GPSs: They can sometimes give you the most ridiculous directions especially if you are somewhat familiar with your destination but do not know the specific locale. (For example, you may know the city and its main streets but do not know how to get to the
specific address.) What I do is look up the address on Mapquest to get or map out a route. Then I punch the address into my GPS when I get into the car. I'll follow my mapped out route until I'm in the vicinity of the address then hit the GPS for specific directions. This saves me time, gas and headaches.

Reply by Ilene C. Seidel on 11/17/10 11:38am
Msg #361686

I do something similar except I plug it into the unit look at how it takes me there then go my way til I'm close. I'm way to lazy to mapquest it first.

Reply by James Dawson on 11/17/10 11:40am
Msg #361688

I do the same except with Google earth.

Reply by Jason Berger on 11/17/10 12:34pm
Msg #361700

Personally, I've a Tom Tom user. Had nothing but issues with Garmin; Magellan we used years ago and it worked great, but when I was at best Buy for my Tom Tom, some guy had been through like five magellans, so who knows. They make all of them with different screen sizes now, but I'm unquestionably now a Tom Tom user for Life.

Reply by James Dawson on 11/17/10 12:59pm
Msg #361706

I got my Tom Tom free for paying four new tires

Reply by MichiganAl on 11/17/10 12:35pm
Msg #361701

I hate my Garmin - wish I had my Magellan back

My last Magellan was great. When it finally went bad, I bought the cheapest one at Costco. I figured they were all the same. I bought the Garmin Nuvi. I regret it every day. The Magellan was so much easier to use, the Garmin takes so many more steps to input the info needed. The Magellan displayed more pertinent info and let me change what appeared on the screen, the Garmin doesn't. The Garmin relies on the touch screen for info input more than the Magellan, and the screen acts funky all the time. The only thing I like about the Garmin is that it has free real time traffic update. Maybe the Magellan has that now too, but my old one didn't.

I will NEVER buy a Garmin again.

Reply by Alz on 11/17/10 11:18am
Msg #361682

Thanks everyone! I think I will give Garmin a try. n/m

Reply by Philip Johnson on 11/17/10 11:20am
Msg #361683

Cheapest one that you can find.

Because once you buy it, it is on it's way to being obsolete. I bought one 3 years ago at Staples for my wife after the rebate it was around $50.00, still works great. I tested it against my neighbor's in dash 2010 Chevrolet system and it beat it handily. Also if it happens to be borrowed by someone, you're not out a great deal of money.

Reply by MW/VA on 11/17/10 4:53pm
Msg #361749

Re: Cheapest one that you can find.

I found a MIO at Radio Shack. It works better than the Magellan's I had. Also, RS has the cheap replacement plans. If anything goes wrong with it, they will just give me a new one.

Reply by Stoli on 11/17/10 1:53pm
Msg #361714

Navigator on Blackberry

I use the Navigator on my Blackberry. No updates EVER because the navigator uses satellite, not maps. It's never outdated.

Reply by Dawn/PA on 11/17/10 5:04pm
Msg #361751

Love my Garmin

This one syncs with my phone and enables me to be hands free which is great!